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Art extravaganza fundraiser slated for Friday

Around Campus

The Art Student League at the school has announced that its yearly fundraiser, the Arts Extravaganza, will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday in the Brockel Building.

The event puts student artwork on display for purchase via a silent auction.

Prints, photographs, sculpture, and paintings in a variety of mediums will be available. Last years event had original artworks that sold ranging in price from $25 to $500. Proceeds will benefit the Art Student League campus club.

There also will be a reception for the opening of the KPC Art Faculty exhibition in the G.L. Freeburg Gallery. The annual exhibit will show works by artists who teach at the KPC. The artists will be available to discuss their work at the reception.

Refreshments and music will be provided and the public is encouraged to attend the Arts Extravaganza and gallery reception.

According to Celia Anderson, art professor and Art Student League adviser, “This is a great holiday shopping excursion for original works of art while at the same time lending support to the Art Student League.”

For more information, call at 262-0361 or e-mail her at ifcra@uaa.alaska.edu.

Ceramics class added

The art department at KPC recently announced the addition of wheel-thrown ceramics (pottery) to the course offerings for the spring semester.

The course will be offered from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays in the Ward Building ceramics lab. The class will be taught by Homer ceramics artist Dan Bartos who also is a teacher at Homer High School.

Registration is available online at kpc.alaska.edu. The class has limited space so early registration is suggested.

For more information, call Celia Anderson.

KPC Showcase set

The next installment of the ongoing KPC Showcase series will feature a portion of the doctoral research of KPC history professor Cathryn Pearce.

Pearce has spent time over the past two years in England at Oxford University working on her doctoral dissertation. She will make a presentation for the public at 7 p.m. today at the in the Brockel Building.

Pearce’s presentation is titled, “Reaction of the Governing Authorities to the Plunder of Shipwrecks in England, 1700-1850.” She offers this synopsis of the presentation:

“On the 21st of March, 1738, the Anna and Helena of Amsterdam found herself stranded during a gale on Thurlestone Sand, Bigbury Bay, on the southern coast of England. Her master, Adrian Waegner, proceeded to hire several gentlemen of the district to salvage what they could of the ship and cargo. But after they had hoisted out the ship’s cables and sails and were beginning to salvage the first hogsheads of wine, a mob determined to plunder the cargo surged forth .... . This incident was only one of many depredations carried out by the “country people” against the property of the shipwrecked and was seen by the governing authorities as a wholly unconscionable act.

This presentation will highlight the perceptions and reactions of the local and national authorities in England from 1700-1850 to wrecking. How were they to control the mobs bent on the plunder and the destruction of shipwrecks.”

The presentation is free to the public.

For more information, call Dave Atcheson at 262-0346 or e-mail him at indaa@uaa.alaska.edu .

Welding presentation planned

According to welding instructor Fritz Miller, the 351 P Miller welding machine is the, “Biggest leap in welding technology I’ve seen in many years.”

Miller said the machine is being demoed in his shop through the second week of December.

Miller said this is the only machine of its kind currently operating on the Peninsula.

“It is user-friendly. It is self-adjusting in that it balances the speed of the welding with the heat required for the job. It has a pulsed output that really reduces the variables in the process. My wire welding class is using it for their U.S. Coast Guard welding certifications. They love it,” Miller said.

Welding enthusiasts who may want to see this “next generation” of wire welders in action may call Miller at 262-0356

This column is provided by Suzie Kendrick, community relations coordinator at Kenai Peninsula College.